Govt to enact law to provide foodgrains at Rs 3/kg to poor

President Pratibha Patil today said the government will formulate the National Food Security Act whereby every family below the poverty line will get 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 a kg, a promise made by Congress before the general elections this year.     

"My government proposes to enact a new law — the National Food Security Act — that will provide a statutory basis for a framework which assures food security for all," Patil said addressing the joint session of Parliament.     
"Every family below the poverty line in rural as well as urban areas will be entitled, by law, to 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 per kg," she said.     

The President's statement mirrors Congress' poll promise of providing 25 kg rice or wheat, by law, at Rs 3 per kg to the poor.     

At present, the Centre provides 35 kg of rice or wheat per month to each BPL family. Wheat is supplied at Rs 4.15 per kg while rice at Rs 5.65 a kg to over four crore families living below the poverty line.     

Patil also spoke about reforming the public distribution system through this law. "This legislation will also be used to bring about broader systemic reform in the PDS," she added.     

The Centre has enough foodgrain in its buffer stock to implement this law. On the back of bumper foodgrain output and higher minimum support prices, the government has procured a record 239.2 lakh tonnes of wheat and 295.93 lakh tonnes of rice till yesterday.

The launch of flagship programmes for food security is listed by the President as among the top ten priorities of the government in the next five years.      Patil noted that the proposed food security law will provide for a new card. "Targetted identification cards would subsume and replace omnibus Below Poverty Line (BPL) list. NREGA has a job card and the proposed Food Security Act would also create a new card," she said.     

Patil said the identification of beneficiaries for other programmes, which currently uses the omnibus BPL list, will be improved based on the objectives of the programmes.     

In a move aimed at giving more power to local bodies, the President said, "All identification of beneficiaries will be done through gram sabhas and urban local bodies and the list placed in the public domain to be (made) open to challenge."     

The government will also launch the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture by the end of this year to "proactively" address issues of climate change, Patil said.     

Maintaining that the government has given a "new deal to agriculture", the President highlighted increased public investment, the waiver of farm loans worth over Rs 65,000 crore and hefty rise in minimum support prices of farm items.     

Patil said, "The momentum of public investment in agriculture and irrigation, built up in the last five years, will be further expanded and the three major instruments — Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, National Food Security Mission and National Horticulture Mission — (have been) strengthened".